Usually, roller assemblies comprise a cylindrical tube which rotates on a shaft by means of bearings. The main problem of a conventional roller assembly is the damage of its bearings due to exterior contaminants.
Known in the art, there is U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,308 (GAGNON) which discloses a roller assembly that is very efficient in preventing external contamination of bearings. However, this type of roller still allows some degree of contamination of the bearings from the outside environment. Furthermore, grease that is inside the bearings may come out of the roller assembly and contaminate products that come into contact with the roller assembly. This makes this roller more difficult to use with food products or other products that cannot be contaminated by the bearing grease.
Accordingly, there is a need in the market for a roller assembly that further reduces the contamination to its bearings and that also further reduces the reverse contamination from the bearings to the outside environment.